Under Pressure
by Myriddin
Summary: Quinn/Rachel. Slight AU. Med-student Quinn and Broadway actress Rachel are best friends both living in NYC. After a breakup, Rachel just may realize her real match is closer than she thought. ONESHOT.


**Under Pressure  
**By Myriddin

**Author's Note: No real sex, but rating it just in case. Poetry credit goes to Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass collection. **

Working the night shift was not her favorite thing, but having waited as long as she did for an internship, she could not bring herself to raise her voice in complaint. The corridors were eerily empty in the late night as she made her rounds, the neon glow of the overhead lights illuminating a strangely yellow hue, the only sounds to be heard the low hum of conversation or the occasional ringing phone from the nurses' station.

Her last visit of the night was old Mr. Harrison, a kindly man in his eighties who had suffered his third heart attack in five years despite affectionate care given by his extensive family; as a father of eight and grandfather of fifteen, his room was never empty.

Quinn smiled at the elderly man's prone, slumbering form, taking in the soft, wheezing snores as a good sign of undisturbed sleep as she quietly exchanged goodbyes with the grandson on bedside duty and left the room.

Even before she had managed to close the door behind her, she found herself accosted in the corridor by the attending on duty in her department, Dr. Hodkins. Hodkins was a constantly fretful man whose aquiline features and habit of glancing down at people over the glasses perched at the bridge of his nose had earned his the nickname of "Hawkman" among the other interns and younger residents.

The man glanced up from his clipboard for the barest moment, squinting narrow dark eyes in her direction. "Ah, Fabray. You're still here. Good."

Quinn smiled at him, trying her best to remain courteous despite the sense of foreboding that settled like a lead weight in her stomach at the way Hodkins continued looking back at his clipboard every few moments, as if he had trouble believing the information to be found there.

"Something I can do for you, Dr. Hodkins?"

The doctor huffed, tapping his pen against the clipboard in a nervous gesture. "Yes, Fabray. You're wanted downstairs right away."

Quinn's brow furrowed as she frowned. "Downstairs? But that's out of my area tonight."

Hodkins shrugged, thrusting the orders at her, "Special orders from Dr. Fuller. You better get going, Fabray. You don't want to see Fuller angry, believe me."

"Yes, sir."

Crossing the corridor and entering the elevator, Quinn waited until the doors slid firmly shut before she slumped against the wall and sighed, irritably rolling back sore shoulders. "Wonderful," she grumbled to herself, "Midnight and Fuller decides to add some diversity to my schedule."

With a familiar ping, the elevator doors slid open once more and with a lazy gait to her walk, Quinn exited, glancing down at the papers in her hand as she went. "Let's see…Room 213." Glancing up, she quietly counted off the labeled numbers as she passed each dark room. "210…211…212…ah, 213."

"Dr. Fabray?"

Looking up from her clipboard in surprise, Quinn smiled at the pretty young nurse who had called her name, a sweet redhead by the name of Grace who'd started at the hospital around the same time Quinn's internship began.

"Hi, Gracie. Something I can do for you?"

"Actually, yes." The nurse gave her a sheepish smile, "Mr. Roberts in 213 has already been checked this rotation."

Quinn raised a quizzical eyebrow, "But Hodkins gave him orders from higher-up."

"Forged," she smiled mischievously at the confusion blanketing Quinn's features.

"Whatever for?"

"To get you up here, without Hodkins getting on anybody's case. There's someone here to see you."

Bemused, Quinn could only obediently follow after her as she led the way to the nurse's station. What she found there had her frozen ramrod, her feet refusing to step forward, suddenly leaden-heavy against the tiled floor.

She was the picture of vulnerable beauty. Quinn's eyes caught the first idle detail, the pair of black heels dangling from her hand, replaced on her feet by a pair of hospital slippers. She was outfitted in a gorgeous red dress, cut in all the right places to be demure enough for a nice outing and still be enticing to the eye.

And speaking of eyes, Quinn's breath caught painfully as she saw such sadness, even touches of panic, filling that dark gaze. Her face were tear-stained, mascara streaks and patchy makeup being lovingly wiped away with a tissue by Samara, the buxom, African-American head nurse who brooded over her subordinates like a mother hen to her chicks.

"Rachel," she stated, her voice hoarse with emotion. Rachel's eyes found her, still glistening with unshed tears.

"Quinn."

They found themselves being watched by the half-a-dozen nurses on duty, a couple of them even ducking their heads together to gossip, conjuring up theories to explain the profound look shared between the gorgeous doctor and the crying brunette. Quinn paid them no mind, trapped in her own world with no one but the two of them.

Quinn cocked her head, frowning with concern. "Rachel, sweetheart, what's wrong?"

Closing her eyes painfully, Rachel numbly shook her head, bringing to Quinn's attention the elegant twist to her hair, damp and tangled- most likely from the storm raging outside. And speaking of the storm outside, the satin material of her dress was blatantly wet, the hem of the skirt dark with a mud-stain, Rachel's arms bare and raised with goosebumps.

Quinn shrugged out of her lab-coat, setting it aside as she pulled the sweater she had worn against the autumn chill over Rachel's head, leaving the thin t-shirt she wore underneath.

She set her hands against Rachel's elbows, gently instructing, "Up." Rachel obeyed, lifting her arms so Quinn could pull the sweater over her head.

"Thank you," Rachel said shyly.

"Of course. Are you going to tell me what you were doing out in this? It's terrible out there."

Rachel smiled humorlessly, "I hardly noticed. I just wandered for hours. I couldn't even think straight, my feet just took me here."

Quinn's face softened and she stepped forward, holding out her arms. Rachel flew into the familiarity of her embrace, clutching desperately to the reassurance of her best friend as she shivered, not from cold but the toll the evening was taking on her.

Quinn pressed a kiss to her forehead, "What happened?"

"James broke up with me tonight." She pressed her face to Quinn's shoulder, feeling the way the blonde's muscles contracted with sudden tension. "He took me to dinner. Did it right there in the restaurant. I couldn't say a thing. I just walked out on him."

"He ended things? In public?"

Rachel nodded against her, snuggling against the warmth permeating from her body. She knew Quinn was angry, she could feel the other woman practically vibrating with her outrage. But the blonde merely closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and exhaling huffily, "Ok. Ok."

"Ok?"

Quinn nodded, drawing back enough to look her in the eye, rubbing her hands down Rachel's arms. "He's a blithering idiot, but that can wait. Why don't you stay with me tonight? You look exhausted."

"Probably better than I feel."

Quinn smiled, pressed another kiss to the top of her head. She looked over her crown to see Samara smiling knowingly at the pair. "Sam, I need to get my stuff from my locker. Can you keep an eye on her for me?"

"Sure thing, honey. Just hurry back."

Cocking an eyebrow, somehow better sustained in Quinn's presence, Rachel glared at her pointedly. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I know. But it's for my own piece of mind. And," she pointed to two of the nurses, Marian and Stephanie, huddled together and looking at the pair eagerly for the moment they would separate, "Those two are gossipmongers. They'd be all over you the second I stepped out of sight.

"Ah." Enlightened, Rachel stepped back to the security of Samara's company, and Quinn left with a promise to return quickly.

Samara, for her part, watched most of the interactions with a thoughtful, quiet air, turning to Rachel with a smile, "Quinn someone special to you?"

Shyly, Rachel nodded her head, "You could say that."

Instead of calling her on the ambiguous answer, Samara only nodded sagely. "That's good. The girl could use some happy in her life."

When Quinn returned a few minutes later with her coat and bag, she wrapped an arm around the brunette, calling her goodbyes to the rest of the night shift as she led her best friend out of the building.

xx

Quinn leaned back against her bed, keeping her head respectfully turned as Rachel undressed. She swallowed hard as she heard the dress fall away, the silken fabric hitting the floor with barely a whisper of sound. "I-uh-I left you some clothes in the bathroom."

Rachel quietly thanked her, changing into the oversized t-shirt and girl-boxers, both of which she noticed swamped her as she caught her reflection in the mirror, washing her face before joining Quinn in the bedroom. She found Quinn stretched out on the bed, looking impossibly cute in a tank and flannel pajama bottoms, glasses perched against her nose as she read quietly from a novel in hand.

Rachel slid in next to her, grateful Quinn had turned down the covers, contently nestling into the warmth provided both by the blanket and Quinn's radiating body heat. "What are you reading?"

"Whitman," Quinn smiled down at her, quoting softly, "I hear you whispering O stars of heaven, O suns…O grass of graves…O perpetual transfers and promotions…if you do not say anything how can I say anything?"

"That's pretty."

"Mmm, there are prettier things in the room," Quinn grinned at her. Rachel smiled in return, reaching out to absently trace one of the rims belonging to the blonde's glasses.

"Are these new?"

"Mmm-hmm. You like them?"

"They're very dashing."

"Glad you think so." Quinn's eyes focused once more on her book, attempting to ignore the new distraction of fingers idly running down his arm. Quinn sighed, dropping the book into her lap, "Rach…I'm trying to read."

"Read to me?"

"Will you sleep if I do?"

"Possibly."

"I'll take what I can get, I suppose." She smiled, flipping through the pages before settling on a passage. Quinn paused for a moment, hesitating, "It's his loss, you know. He's a moron for letting you go."

Rachel smiled softly as she let her head fall to Quinn's shoulder. "When you say it, I definitely believe it." She snuggled closer to Quinn, wonderful, caring Quinn she felt so lucky to have care about her. "Read to me, Quinn."

"Of the turbid pool that lies in the autumn forest, of the moon that descents the steeps of the soughing twilight, toss, sparkles of day and dusk…toss on the black stems that decay in the muck, toss to the moaning gibberish of the dry limbs.

I ascend from the moon…I ascend from the night, and I perceive of the ghastly glitter the sunbeams reflected, and debouch to the steady and central from the offspring great or small. There is that in me…I do not know what it is…but I know it is in me."

Before the words had fully left her mouth, Quinn suddenly felt something warm press to her lips, her mind barely having time to register she was being kissed before it blanked. The contact was soft, so incredibly soft, but the moment she recovered from her shock enough to reciprocate, Rachel was gone, peppering stray kisses against Quinn's cheek, jaw and chin, along her neck.

Quinn blinked, stupefied, watching as Rachel drew back, looking at her with dark eyes full of something Quinn had never seen before. There was tenderness, affection, and awe, her smile warm as she palmed Quinn's cheek. "You're amazing, Quinn. I don't think I tell you that enough. And your voice, I could listen to you talk forever…"

Quinn's heartbeat began to quicken, and a shiver ran down her spine as she leaned into Rachel's touch. "Rach, what…?"

"Shh."

Rachel brushed a thumb against her lips, outlining the full, sensual shape of them. She raised her other hand to Quinn's face and began to trace her beloved features. Rachel's touch was light as a feather, fingers brushing up the angled line of Quinn's jaw, the sculpted shape of her cheekbones, and the poise of her nose. They traveled upward to the slight dip of her temples, the arch of her eyebrows, smoothing over a forehead furrowed with bewilderment, striving to soothe away the lines of thought. Rachel gently removed her reading glasses, moving closer. "Quinn, it's alright," the brunette soothed, "And I don't want you worrying. The only thing on my mind is you." Her lips joined in to feather everywhere her fingers touched, and Quinn trembled.

Quinn did not have time to contemplate as all thought flew out the proverbial window, hands and lips suddenly leaving her. She sighed with disappointment, only to have her reaction do a complete turnabout when Rachel suddenly straddled her.

Rachel's lips found hers again and Quinn responded eagerly, though she kept the kiss light, little more than a peck as she pulled back, brushing soft, chaste kisses against Rachel's mouth again and again. Rachel let out a contented sigh, shifting against the blonde, pressing her mouth more firmly against Quinn's. Quinn responded to the unspoken invitation, moving to deepen the kiss, gently pushing past eagerly parting lips as Rachel opened to her.

A low groan rose up in Quinn's throat and Rachel moaned with the sudden fervor to her kiss, linking her arms around Quinn's neck, burying her hands in blonde hair as Quinn came close to devouring her. A spike of pure desire and adrenaline rang through Rachel as she realized what she had awoken in Quinn, and she delighted in the reality of the blonde's passion.

Meanwhile, Quinn was wrapping her hands around Rachel's thighs, sliding the brunette off her, but before Rachel had time to be disappointed, Quinn had gently tossed her back against the bed. The moment her back hit the mattress, Quinn was on her again. Quinn's weight was a warm, welcome addition, delicious in the firm muscle and soft curves pressing into her.

"Rachel…"

The soft whisper of her name, spoken in low tones husky with passion, was enough to send a sensual shiver down Rachel's spine. A warm mouth descended over hers, gently coaxing her into a deeper kiss. Striving to be closer, Rachel hitching one leg to wrap around Quinn's hip, Quinn compensating the move as her thigh shifted between Rachel's own. Rachel moaned as Quinn's thigh pressed firmly against her center, rolling her hips once more to test the feeling.

The move elicited a strangled sound from Quinn, and she grabbed Rachel's hips, stopping her from moving. Their eyes met, Rachel staring up into hazel darkened to an impassioned amber, answering their question as she tangled her fingers through blonde locks, drawing Quinn's head down into a gentle kiss. "Don't stop, Quinn."

The request was given in low, husky tones, so full of desire, that Quinn growled, leaning over Rachel as she ground down. Rachel sighed, eyes fluttering at the feeling and arched up, urging Quinn to move again. Quinn let go, beginning to rock and Rachel whimpered, her hips lifting to meet Quinn's every movement. Quinn kissed her lingeringly, slowly and steadily rocking, Rachel gently swaying with her.

Quinn surrendered to the inevitable, just letting herself feel as the tension inside coiled in her belly. She let come what felt natural, closing her eyes with the heat and rhythm in the gentle back and forth of their hips. She buried her face in Rachel's hair, breathing her in. "God, Rach…"

"Quinn…so good…" Rachel whimpered as the blond teasing her lips over the sensitive place beneath her ear, earning a soft mewl of approval as Quinn dropped heated kisses down her neck. Rachel locked eyes with the blonde, "I won't apologize for this, Quinn," she whispered, "I can't."

"Then don't," Quinn fervently replied, the sweet urgency inside building to monumental levels. "No take backs, Rach."

"No take backs," Rachel repeated, and those breathless words were all it took to send Quinn tumbling over the edge, the breathless, mewling whimper that left her, a sound so intimately vulnerable, had Rachel soon followed after her.

They lay there for several speechless moments, sweaty and panting, before Quinn lifted her head, her hazel eyes clear and content in a way Rachel had never seen before. "So," she said with faux-casualness, as if they were in an everyday setting and not just finished bringing each other to climax for the first time, "You want to go to dinner some time?" She followed the words with a sheepish smile, shrugging.

Rachel laughed, delighted and charmed despite herself, bringing Quinn in close to kiss her firmly. They'd get something to eat, eventually…after round two.


End file.
